Searching for Mentor who specializes in multi-family investments
Hi All,
I am currently a first-time home buyer/investor and I am looking for someone who would be willing to mentor or provide general advice towards getting me into the multi-family market( Maybe meet once a month). Unfortunately, I do not have anyone in the space to who I can ask general questions or concerns and family is out of the question sadly.
Some information:
1. I myself have been doing a lot of research and have been reading through the forums and the guides on bigger pockets.
2. I have general target prices in mind and have filled out a rental analysis and deal evaluation spreadsheet I found on this forum.
3. I am located in Canada and looking to purchase my first property within Canada.
4. Mentor can be located anywhere not too picky.
Hi @Laura Harris I always recommend that anyone getting started attend in person meet ups. It's a great way to become more knowledgeable on your local investors and create your team while you're getting started. You get to meet a lot of people at once....which is wonderful for finding the RIGHT mentor! BiggerPockets has a section just for this, Under the NETWORK tab- Meet up. https://www.biggerpockets.com/...
Best of luck!
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Real Estate Agent IL (# 475171423)
- 773-456-4644
- http://www.saritasells.com
- [email protected]
Quote from @Laura Harris:
Sarita is correct. You need to network with investors in our local area, build relationships, and then seek a mentorship from someone you know, like, and trust.
Go to NETWORK at the top of your screen and you can search for other investors and investment groups in your area. You can also check meetup.com or search facebook for real estate investment groups, clubs, or meetings in your area.
Quote from @Sarita Scherpereel:Hi Sarita,
Hi @Laura Harris I always recommend that anyone getting started attend in person meet ups. It's a great way to become more knowledgeable on your local investors and create your team while you're getting started. You get to meet a lot of people at once....which is wonderful for finding the RIGHT mentor! BiggerPockets has a section just for this, Under the NETWORK tab- Meet up. https://www.biggerpockets.com/...
Best of luck!
Thank you for the advise will definitely check it out! Looks like I might have to do some external searches since I'm not seeing much out there on that link specific to Canada.
Quote from @Nathan Gesner:Thank you ! I will definitely check meetup and see what I can find in my area
Quote from @Laura Harris:
Sarita is correct. You need to network with investors in our local area, build relationships, and then seek a mentorship from someone you know, like, and trust.
Go to NETWORK at the top of your screen and you can search for other investors and investment groups in your area. You can also check meetup.com or search facebook for real estate investment groups, clubs, or meetings in your area.
Hi @Laura Harris sometimes meet up hosts, post in different places online...like Facebook. Definitely reach out to realtors in your area. They might know some.
-
Real Estate Agent IL (# 475171423)
- 773-456-4644
- http://www.saritasells.com
- [email protected]
Hi Laura,
Where in Canada are you located and what city are you looking to invest in? I am a Mortgage Specialist located 1 hour north of Toronto, and can assist with financing and helping you find a reputable and reliable real estate agent.
Let me know if I can be of any help.
Gregory
@Laura Harris this is a common question, and I'd definitely suggest surrounding yourself with people who have significant RE experience as much as possible...and other folks here have provided some good ideas on how to find a mentor...
However, before you try to find a mentor, I think you need to answer two very important questions:
1) "What value am I bringing to the mentor?" ...if you're not 100% clear on this, then a mentorship will never materialize, and if it does materialize, it will likely fail.
The value you bring might be in the form of capital, experience, access to deals, the ability to put in a lot of work, etc., etc., but you have to bring SOMETHING to the table. ...regardless of what type of value you bring, it has to be sufficiently valuable for the mentor to benefit (and if the mentor is a highly experienced and successful RE investor, their time is extremely valuable, so they ain't gonna come cheap!). ...which brings us to the second question:
2) "What value is the mentor bringing to me?" You'll need to answer this question, and use that to estimate what you need to bring to the table to make it worthwhile for mentor. For instance, a "mentor" with a net worth of $50k, who has done one BRRR and one LTR has relatively little to offer you that you can't learn from reading books, listening to podcasts, etc.--as a result, they might "mentor" you for free, or for very little in return...but, are you really getting anything of value from them? (probably not). On the other hand, a mentor with a seven-figure+ net worth, a huge portfolio of residential, multifam, triple net, etc., and decades of experience in every area of RE can bring a ton of value to you, but that means you'll have to bring a ton of value to them, too--because their time and experience is so much more valuable.
I'm constantly approached by beginning investors with no real estate experience who want to "partner" with me, or want me to "mentor" them, but who have zero idea how to make it worthwhile for me. Unfortunately, in most of these situations, "partnering" with or "mentoring" a beginning investor is code for "wasting my time helping someone who's constantly screwing up (because they're a beginner), and not only getting nothing in return, but also exposing myself to increased liability".
Why should a high net-worth, highly experienced investor put their very valuable time, money, experience, reputation, and resources on the line for someone with no experience? ...you'll have to answer that question if you want to build a mentorship with anyone who brings any real value to the table.
Now, I realize all that sounds like it's very difficult (or maybe impossible) to find a worthwhile mentor--that's not necessarily true, and it's not what I'm trying to say. I'm simply saying that you'll need to carefully consider the aforementioned issues, and find answers to these types of questions if you want to find a mentor who's actually valuable.
I have partnered with, and have also mentored inexperienced aspiring RE investors in the past, but those arrangements were mutually beneficial, and the partner or mentee brought significant value to the table (and they were very clear on what value they were bringing to me, and what value I was bringing to them).
Good luck out there!
Thank you Leo for the advice. I will definitely take some time to evaluate what kind of advantages I could bring to the table for another seasoned Investor as I go through my learning journey. I had not thought about those questions you posed and will definitely put more things into perspective.